Long live the crisis !
It is sometimes a bit strange to stroll down the alleys of one of the countless MICE trade shows and listen to conversations…

So, is the crisis going to last? The most optimistic (or the least sincere!) plan a slight slowdown; the most pessimistic (or the most realistic!) confess they were confronted with huge drops.

One thing is for sure: a certain era of business tourism is over. Budgets are tighter than ever, programs are less ostentatious, the competition is cutthroat, and some market participants’ financial situation is getting worrying…

Being a project manager is tough.
With issues such as the cutthroat competition, the increasing demands of customers and shortened deadlines, the pressure put on project managers working in event and incentive agencies is becoming hardly bearable.

Customer projects must be returned faster with a perfect presentation and abound with relevant information. They also need to be creative and must not exceed the budget. Rare are the campaign briefs which are answered by a single project.
Therefore, various projects need to be studied simultaneously, while comparing services and rates.

But then, project managers have to face other problems:
- the meeting room is too small, the hotel rooms are not available, etc -, and sometimes they even have to start all over again. They also have to check the weather forecast, add pictures with a perfect resolution and a map with the route, locate hotels, give information about the country, notify bank and religious holiday, check the administrative procedures, find the correct exchange rate, organise a program for couriers, find golf courses around the location.

In addition to the Forte Village managed by the Eleganzia hotels and spa group in Sardinia, the Castel Monastero has just opened its doors in Tuscan after nine months of works to transform this medieval town in a luxury Country House resort, in the middle of the Chianti region located at 23 kilometres from Sienna. The whole of the four hectares on the Ombrone hill has a view on the C...

900,000 times a day, one of the words included in the MICE acronym is searched on Google:
The word MEETING is searched 500,000 times per month on Google!
The word INCENTIVE is searched 673,000 per month on Google!
The word EVENT is searched 13,600,000 per month on Google!
The word Congress is searched 2,740,000 times per mon...

Universal Studios Singapore® Thursday, October 22, 2009 Located within one of the world’s most extensive and expensive tourism projects- the US$4.4 billion Resorts World Sentosa - Universal Studios Singapore features 24 rides and attractions, 18 of them original or adapted for Singapore. Step into Hollywood Boulevard framed by dynamic architecture, palm trees and the famous Walk of Fame, you will feel as if you have landed in the center of the entertainment universe.

Discovering the world also involves tasting local gourmet specialties. In each Newsletter, Micefinder offers a recipe that you can prepare for the members of your trips and events, or savor with friends at home.

IRISH COFFEE:
The chef Joseph Sheridan from Foynes (Co.Limerick) is usually credited with the invention of this famous drink. At the end of the 30’s, he is said to have prepared this drink to warm passengers up, who were frozen stiff, paralyzed to death after a transatlantic trip on a seaplane which lasted more than 18 hours.
A memorial slab of this event was affixed on Shanon Airport. However, some, as a famous Irish Pub in San Francisco, try to claim the authorship. But now is not the time to get into this debate! Let’s rather have a look at the recipe!

Heat the whiskey up (whiskey is Irish, Whisky is Scottish) with the cane sugar (beware of not making the whisky boil) in a saucepan.

Although on the whole business tourism sector still remains conservative in the use of the Internet, 2 French professionals, expert in the booking of reception spaces, are launching simultaneously a similar project: an online MICE trade show!

The first Marriott Hotel in Oman set to open on December 15, 2009 Friday, November 13, 2009 The Salalah Marriott Resort will welcome its first guests on December 15, 2009. Set on the idyllic shores of the Arabian Sea on the white sandy beaches of Mirbat Cove and at the foot of Jebel Samhan, the hotel is located in the Dhofar region and 80 kilometers from Salalah International Airport.

The Dhofar region is the land of gardens, mountain springs, historical treasures and natural beauty. Located in the South of Oman, Dhofar thrives on its fishing industries, agricultural activities, traditional crafts and tourist initiatives.

Incentive planners seeking to put a "greener" emphasis on their travels may now want to move Stockholm to the top of their list. In March, Sweden’s environmentally-friendly capital won the first European Green Capital Award ...

Reed Travel Exhibitions has announced today, 1st October 2009, its commitment to the American meetings and incentive market by confirming that the inaugural Americas Incentive Business Travel and Meetings Exhibition (AIBTM) will now take place in Baltimore, Maryland from June 21- June 23, 2011. This new major event adds to the company’s established portfolio of ‘IBTM’ exhibitionsspecifically serving the global meetings industry marketplace. AIBTM joins EIBTM in Barcelona, GIBTM in Abu Dhabi, and CIBTM in Beijing. The portfolio also includes AIME, Melbourne and the ICCA Congress Exhibition held in a different destination each year.